Not Doing as the Romans Do.....

Rules for Taiwanese and Chinese Drivers

• Road signs and crosswalks are arbitrary. Follow the traffic lights only when necessary—if you can get by without stopping at a red light, GO FOR IT!

• Rarely yield to ANYONE, even people who are crossing on a green pedestrian light. HONK if the pedestrian is moving too slowly. Honk even more if the pedestrian is absent-mindedly text-messaging or checking messages on the mobile phone.

• Leave as LITTLE space as possible between you and oncoming traffic when making turns.

• Pass other vehicles at will, on any side possible.

• NEVER allow the vehicle to gradually accelerate or decelerate. In fact, NEVER let the vehicle coast naturally—that’s for WIMPS. Constantly apply the gas and brakes. And make sure to brake suddenly without actually screeching.

• For bus drivers: The more your standing passengers seem to be losing their balance, the better job you’re doing.

Okay, but in defense of Taiwanese drivers, they NEVER lose their temper and stay cool and collected at ALL times. Losing your temper is considered a sign of weakness here. If a professor loses his/her cool in front of students, he/she will lose respect. Also, the reason why people here can get away with this type of driving is because EVERYONE thinks exactly the SAME way, and they all COMPLETELY understand and ANTICIPATE what everyone else is doing. However, when these drivers move to the U.S., then problems arise. They apply these same principles in the U.S., not realizing that everyone else will think they’re crazy for driving in this manner! And they don’t realize that people in the U.S. do not understand what they’re doing and cannot anticipate their moves. Hence, the “bad-Asian-driver” stereotype is perpetuated!

The “double 10” (10/10) holiday is similar to our Independence Day, and celebrates the end of the dynasties in China. As I mentioned earlier, the Fulbrighters were invited to attend a reception at the Taipei Guest House hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in celebration of 10/10. According to Dr. Wu, we were considered VIPs, and VIPs we were! The president of Taiwan was even there! The Taipei Guest House is a beautiful facility—the pictures do not do it justice. John and I had a great time and it was nice to see to catch up with the other Fulbrighters and exchange experiences! Dr. Wu is in one of the pictures--he's the one in between John and me!

Because of the holiday week-end, subways were even more crowded than usual! Lauren and Luke LOVE the subways. Really, if all we did was ride the subways all day, I think they’d be perfectly satisfied! We decided to venture out to Miramar Entertainment Park, which houses a gigantic Ferris wheel. The pictures include the children on the Ferris wheel and views of Taipei from the Ferris wheel. We also made a trip to the Shilin night market, one of the largest night markets in Taipei. It was SUPER crowded and we were terrified we would misplace Luke and Lauren! I discovered that Shilin is DEFINITELY the place to shop—should have begun my personal shopping there! We also found a restaurant that serves hot pot, one of my FAVORITE foods! For those of you who are not familiar with Chinese hot pot, it’s Chinese fondue. You heat up soup on the table (see the picture), put raw food in, cook it, and then ENJOY! Two types of soups are served—one is spicy, the other is not. Anyway, the mistake we made at the restaurant was that we didn’t realize it was buffet style. We were just sitting at the table for several minutes waiting for someone to take our order, and finally someone came over and explained to me that we were supposed to get the food ourselves. We didn’t see the food—it was in another room! We must have looked pretty foolish just sitting there! But I really enjoyed getting our own food because I didn’t have to order in Chinese! The buffet included ice cream for dessert, which pleased the children. I’ve enjoyed 2 flavors in Taiwan that are not common in the U.S.—green tea ice cream and red bean ice cream, which happened to be at this restaurant!

I realize that we obviously do not look Taiwanese, and our way of dressing brings even more attention to this trait! We consistently under dress, meaning, we’re about a season behind! We’re still dressing like it’s spring/summer, everyone else is dressing like it’s fall/winter, simply because it’s no longer 90 degrees. But it still HOT!! AND HUMID! It’s still 75-80 degrees, and it FEELS hotter because of the humidity! I'm wearing sleeveless and short-sleeved tops; everyone else is wearing LAYERS with LONG SLEEVES AND JACKETS. Some women are wearing TIGHTS and PANTY HOSE! NOW I understand why my mom always nagged me to dress heavier when I was a child! There’s NO WAY I can dress like that right now! I’ve noticed that when I see other Americans, they’re dressing like me, too, so I guess we’re not totally crazy! I KNOW Lauren and Luke’s teachers are thinking we don’t dress our kids warmly enough—they’re the lightest-dressed kids in their schools. Their classmates are practically wearing winter coats! Definitely, Taiwanese are fearful of being cold!

My leftover summer tan also distinguishes me from the others. Taiwanese HATE exposure to the sun, and think tans are VERY unattractive. When it’s sunny, many women use umbrellas to shield themselves. I’ve also noticed that many face creams—acne and moisturizing—contain “whitener.” They equate tans with working-class people, people who have to work outside for a living, so tans are considered undesirable.

Next up….alternative medical treatment…..